UTSA engineers win $350,000 in stimulus funds to develop synthetic root structures

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has received a three-year, $354,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve soil reinforcement by injecting living plant roots with plastic polymers to develop synthetic root systems. The synthetic root systems have widespread applications in dams, levees, embankments, landfills and other soil-based structures.

"The root structures of plants and trees are often used to reinforce soil. But when those plants and trees die or they are damaged by animals or bad weather, we get holes in the soil where the roots should be. The result is a weakened soil system, prone to erosion," said Drew Johnson, UTSA assistant professor of civil engineering and the study's principal investigator.

To develop a solution for soil erosion, UTSA's researchers will create and test liquid polymers by injecting them into the roots of plants. Once injected, those polymers will solidify in the shape of the plant's roots and as the live roots decompose over time, the plastic root structure will remain, keeping the soil in place and protecting it from erosion.

Johnson will conduct the research in collaboration with UTSA professors Mark Appleford, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; Paul Jurena, assistant professor of geological sciences; Valerie Sponsel, associate professor of plant physiology; and Sazzad Bin-Shafique, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering as well as six student researchers. Together, the team will determine which chemicals should be included in the polymer injections, which types of live roots lead to the best synthetic roots and how stable they are able to make soil samples using synthetic root structures.

In response to the proposal, one NSF reviewer noted, "This research is a beginning, in its infancy, high risk, highly innovative, but with tremendous future potential."

Obtaining NSF funding is a very competitive process. The NSF's Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation, which funded the UTSA proposal, expects to receive approximately 2,300 proposals by the end of the year. Only 10-15% will receive funding.

Source: University of Texas at San Antonio